The Nazz

Inspired by a variety of British Invasion groups, from the omnipresent Beatles to the cult favorites The Move, Todd Rundgren and his Woody's Truck Stop colleague Carson Van Osten formed The Nazz in 1967. Taking their name from an obscure Yardbirds song, The Nazz were arguably the first Anglophiles in rock history. There had been many groups that drew inspiration from The Beatles and The Stones, but none had been so self-consciously reverent as The Nazz. One of their first singles, "Open My Eyes," twisted the riff from the Who's "I Can't Explain," and much of their music felt like homages to Brit-rock from The Kinks to Cream, thereby setting a precedent that was followed by scores of North American guitar-pop bands from The Raspberries to Sloan.



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